Friday, April 29, 2011

I’ve been thinking about the comments you left on my post about Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook and thought I might have been misunderstood by some: I agree with the fact that some people are naturally thin and can eat tons of food without gaining 1 single pound – I have cousins and friends that way. Nothing against those people – I wish I were one of them! :D
And I don’t think that one has to be chubby to be a good cook, either - I was joking about the skinny cooks/cookies thing. I don’t buy GP as a cook/baker, but I adore Sophie Dahl, for instance. Something completely personal, I know.

And since I’m not part of the blessed group of people who can eat all the sweets they want, I made these brownies, had one – it was delicious – and sent the other squares to my nephew; he plays a lot of sports and will burn these calories in no time. :D

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square baking pan, line with foil leaving an overhang in two opposite sides, then butter the foil as well.
Combine the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water). Stir constantly until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt, mixing well until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour, mix well, then transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top.
Place teaspoonfuls of peanut butter on the surface of the batter, then swirl the peanut butter into the batter using a fork until it looks marbled. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the brownie has a smooth sheen and looks dry (the peanut butter portions will be tacky). Let cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve.

as same like me, eat sweets stuff mean i must to run around the lake for 3hours after that.But again, don't worry about what people say, what people think. No one can't control what on their mind. Still I adore your baking skill and recipes :)

I do love Sophie Dahl, but Gwyneth the wife/mother/actress/singer/cook/baker kind of pisses me off. Maybe I'm just jealous.... The brownies look awesome! Were these brownies fudgy? chewy? what were the edges like? I really love brownie edges....

Ahhh.....here is another great book we both have that I love! :) I didn't remember these in DamnGoodSweet, which is shocking as I L O V E peanut butter browies! They look amazing, Patricia...I am *so* making them this week! Have a great week, my friend! xo

I was so excited to make these, but I couldn't find any unsweetened chocolate. What I did was use pure cocoa powder mixed with vegetable oil as a substitute (as suggested by other cooking websites) and followed the rest of the recipe.

The mixture turned out too oily especially after mixing in the butter...at the end of the baking time it just didn't hold :(((

Any tips on using this recipe with cocoa powder so I can make better ones next time?

Hey, anonymous, I wouldn't try to adapt this or any other recipe that calls for chocolate to use cocoa powder instead. I recommend Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies, they are fabulous! You can find the recipe on the index of my blog.